It’s that time of year again! Here’s my video love letter to my neighborhood of Washington Heights, NYC. It’s been three years since I made this video, which now has over 11K views thanks to the song which was recorded by Matthew Gray Gubler, also known as the swoon-worthy Dr. Spencer Reid on CBS’ Criminal Minds.

This story has been making the rounds again recently, so here’s an updated version:

After September 11th, I thought of all the things that I wanted to do before I died, and skinny dipping turned out to be #1 on the list. I had gone skinny dipping only once before, and it was one of those cool experiences that I wanted to have again. Of course, living in NYC, there are no lakes handy, so I did some research and found a nude beach in Sandy Hook, NJ, about 2 and half hours away.

So on July 4, 2002, G (my guy at the time) and I woke up before 9am and headed to Gunnison Beach, a beach on federal land that has a clothing optional section – meaning its totally legal to walk around in your birthday suit. I’m not exactly an exhibitionist, but a sensualist, one who enjoys water on my bare skin, and the bathtub does not have the same effect.

So we park the car in the beach parking lot, and walk over (still wearing clothes). We pass a sign that warns “Nude Bathers May Be Present”, but at the same time, I’m surprised to see many so people going the same way. I mean, they didn’t look like nudist types (whatever that means). There were families, as well as more older folk around, and I actually started to hope that they wouldn’t be the ones taking their clothes off.

I figured that if I was going to go through with this, I didn’t want to hang with the crowd. We took a shortcut that led us far, far away from the rest of the beach goers, and set up our towels. As I looked at the crowd again in the distance, they all appeared to be dressed, so I got cold feet. I announced, “I’m just going to keep my bikini on”, and sat down on my towel. When I turned to G, he was as naked as the day he was born. I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was going to remain dressed too. “I didn’t come here for nothing!”, he said. At that, I removed my bikini, and started rubbing on the suntan lotion.

It felt great to lay nude under the sun until the bugs came. The coconut suntan lotion must have acted like a love potion because I continually felt the stings of insects that I could not see. At first I thought it was the tiny grains of sand sticking to my skin. Each time I’d rub sand off a body part, I’d brush twice as much sand on another part. And then I’d get bit again by the no-see-ums (I think they’re also called sand flies). After about 15 minutes or so of this, I sit up and frustration, and suggest going in the water.

Seeing that the rest of the beach goers were pretty far away, we headed into the water. It was AWESOME!!! It was cold at first, but there we were, swimming NAKED in the ocean. The water felt fantastic. My hair was floating all around me, and I felt like a mermaid. A mermaid with legs, of course. G and I swam together, jumping over waves, and it was one of those lovely experiences.

Soon, two guys walked by on the beach. I worried at first that they were going to steal our clothes from the water’s edge, but it turned out that they had left the beach crowd to smoke a joint, and they weren’t even paying attention to us. So we ignored Cheech & Chong, and went back to our water play. They headed back towards the crowd, and then a park ranger truck passes by on the beach. Then the truck stops near us. G and I hope that the truck stopping has nothing to do with us. But then a ranger gets out the truck, and motions for us to come out of the water.

Um, did I happen to mention that we were NAKED?

So with all the rock star bravado I have, I calmly walk out of the ocean, like I do this all the time. I made sure that the upper half of my body was covered by my long red locks, and I did my best impersonation of the goddess Venus making an entrance from the ocean. G is a guy, so of course, he’s fine. We walk up to the ranger, who, to his credit, only looks me in the eyes. He tells us that we have committed two infractions,

“One, you’re in an unsupervised area of the beach.

Two, this isn’t the nude beach.”

Oops!

He doesn’t issue any tickets, but tells us that the clothing optional area is on the OTHER side of the beach. “You mean, where the people are?”, I ask. He nods.

And of course, while he’s talking to us, the naughty nudists, Cheech & Chong are smoking a joint in the distance, getting a good laugh to go with their buzz, undisturbed!

At that point, I was feeling tanned (and embarrassed) enough to go home. But at the very least, I can cross skinny dipping off my bucket list!

Today, July 3rd, I’m ushering in the July 4th Holiday on the Joyce Barrie and Friends online show! Since being named her “Most Outrageous Guest, the pressure was on to come up with something fun, so today’s topic is “FLIRTING 101″!!! Now that it’s July, it’s time to usher in your SUMMER LOVE! Tune in this morning at 11am EST and get your flirt on!

On Monday, May 20th, I’ll be bringing my Social Media Ninja 201 Workshop to Unity of NY!!!

I am excited about sharing my expertise at Unity NY, which is my spiritual home. This workshop is open to the public! The suggested love offering price for this workshop is $25, but you can pay what you can.

Class Description

Using Facebook or Twitter to communicate with friends is one thing, but using these social media tools for business requires a totally different skillset. If you are already extremely comfortable using social media, the time has come for you to learn strategies to meet the people who you want to do business with.

Whether you are seeking clients, customers, or investors, you will learn specific strategies to grow your network:

This class will be strategy-heavy, so come prepared to take notes and learn a lot! The goal is to leave this class with a handful of new tactics that can be implemented immediately.

About Carla Lynne Hall, Workshop Facilitator

Carla Lynne Hall is a Musician and Music Marketing Specialist and Founder of Rock Star Life Lessons, a musician lifestyle brand which helps musicians grow their audiences and become self-sustaining entrepreneurs. Carla is also a Graduate and Course Leader for Workshop In Business Opportunities’ (WIBO) “How to Build a Growing Profitable Business” workshop, which has developed NYC-based entrepreneurs for over 40 years.

Carla is a Skillshare Master Teacher, as well as a Course Leader for Creative Capital’s “Internet for Artists”, a workshop that teaches artists around the country how to use the internet to promote their work. She is the former Director of Online Courses at Ariel Publicity. Carla is also the author of three books: The DIY Guide to the Music Biz, Twitter for Musicians, and Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter with Ariel Hyatt.

Carla also has a popular blog and podcast for musicians at http://RockStarLifeLessons.com. Over the past 15 years, she has parlayed her internet fame into four indie CDs, three books, an international tribe of friends, followers, and fans, and a new TV Show, Carla Lynne Hall: Music Trekker, on Time Warner Cable in New York City.

Saturday, April 27th, Curtis and I will be returning to Neirs Tavern. For our Valentine’s Day show, Neirs served a special prime rib menu. When we returned as Curtis and the Dilettantes on St. Patrick’s Day, Neirs served a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. For our next musical feast on April 27th, Chef Daniel Larosa is cooking up a LOBSTER BAKE!!!

I’ve realized that Curtis likes to choose places for their meals, but even I have to agree with the brilliance of singing for our supper. So come out to Queens, and enjoy a delicious meal with us!

I was originally set to join Curtis Becraft for his gig at Bushwick Brooklyn’s Goodbye Blue Monday on Dec 20th at 9pm, when he turned around and got *me* a gig to fill in for a cancellation at 11pm. Curtis, sweetheart that he is, agreed to stay and sit in with me for the later set, so it’s gonna be a fun night of music.

It’s not that I believe that the world will end on Dec 21st as the Mayans predicted, BUT if it so happens that there is some kind of apocalyptic event, I will have at least spent my final hours making music with good friends. That works for me!

Curtis and I have some fun musical things planned for the New Year, so this gig will just be a teaser. Come early for Curtis’ gig, grab a bite from the kitchen, and then hang out with us for my 11pm slot.

If the world does end, you don’t want to sleep through it. Come on out!

While most freelancers and entrepreneurs are already using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in their daily/personal life, they may lack the strategy necessary to increase visibility for their business.

Whether you are seeking investors, clients, or customers, this class teaches the best practices of online marketing. We’ll cover business branding basics that can be used online and offline, as well as specific social media marketing strategies to grow your network.

This class is best for:

* Start-up and small business owners who are just starting out, or within the first year of running their business

* Freelancers who are already familiar with the basics of Facebook and Twitter, and want to supercharge their online marketing strategy

* Anyone who wants to learn social media marketing skills to gain more business

The goal is to leave this class with at least one new tactic that can be put into practice immediately. Having a laptop, tablet, or smartphone is not required, and interacting with your classmates is encouraged!